I Achieved Work-Life Balance: I Stopped Working

Why do we work? Every human should want to be productive and add value to society, but can we achieve this by working a corporate job?

In essence, we work to pay bills. Along the way, high-paying jobs lead to high-flying lifestyles. Someone convinced us to work until we were 65 years old.

The Industrial Revolution brought us from our local communities and farms into the city. We started with the men working factory jobs with their wives at home.

I’m Obsessed with Money

Then, both parents worked. Now, both parents are working full-time and overtime to provide these bloated and busy lifestyles. What went wrong?

I achieved work-life balance. I spent 24 years in the United States Marine Corps, doing Air Traffic Control maintenance. I worked on radios, radars, beacons, and weather equipment.

I loved my job, but it took a heavy toll on my family. I started thinking about work-life balance on my third (2-year) tour away from my family. This is when I started reading and writing about personal finance.

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It became clear that I would never achieve work-life balance with a full-time corporate job. But how could I escape the rat race without a plan?

After receiving orders to San Diego, California, I knew it was time to retire from the Corps. I was born and raised in San Diego and knew my family had no future there. I needed to escape my corporate job.

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I dropped retirement papers in January 2023 with a retirement date of September 30th, 2023—nine months away.

I made $180,000/year when I dropped papers, and my wife brought in $45,000. That means we were earning roughly $18,750/month.

I started doing the math on my military pension and benefits, and it looked like I would bring in $8,500/month. That would be a massive pay cut compared to our current income. I floated the idea of joining the civil service as a GS-12 or GS-13.

Then, in January, I had an epiphany. When would enough be enough? My wife and I had paid off all our debt (minus a cheap car). We were living on a budget and had our own personal allowances.

Doing the math, we could live on $8,500/month and still save and invest $1,000/month. We also had places we could cut if we needed along the way.

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My wife stopped working in May 2023, and I followed in October 2023. We haven’t worked full-time jobs since.

What do we do in our retirement? 2024 was the first entire year of complete freedom. It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you can focus on your personal agenda.

We were able to retire because we rejected the idea of leading a lavish lifestyle. We don’t need to replace our cars every two years or renovate our kitchen every five.

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There are so many things to achieve outside of the workforce. The number one goal is to raise well-adjusted kids who can adapt to the new world order.

Let’s review what I do with my time. I receive many questions about how I spend my days without a boss telling me what to do, so here we go.

1. Exercise. I walk two miles a day with my wife and dog. I also do the elliptical every other day for one hour. 
2. Weight. I monitor my weight, to ensure I stay below 175 pounds. I hope to find the motivation to get under 170 lbs someday.
3. Writing. I write an article every other day and publish a book the other days. This has allowed me to accumulate 1,600 articles on my blog and 1,200 books on Amazon.
4. College. I go to Pensacola State College full-time. I really don’t want to do it; however, the GI Bill pays me $1,833 per month (tax-free) to attend. So, I am attending.
5. Investments. I have a $400,000 investment portfolio to manage and grow. Reviewing my portfolio is the most fun I have in my personal time.
6. Real Estate. We own three houses and a tiny house. There is always something to do with real estate. Always.
7. Administration. The crucial part of running a household is ensuring your admin paperwork is up-to-date. This includes driver’s licenses, insurance, taxes, passports, registration, bank information, credit reports, and bills.
8. Family. I get to spend lots of time with my wife. My kids go to school, but we can go on weekend trips.
9. Friends. I have long conversations with my Marine Corps buddies on the phone. I also have a couple of great buddies in the local area who are retired. We can meet and eat on the beach.
10. Video Games. Finally, I catch up on my Nintendo Switch games if I have some free time. I missed a lot of games over the last 24 years.

The freedom of financial freedom. The best part of being free is making my own schedule. I can change and arrange things as I see fit. I don’t need to ask my boss for a day off. 

Taking care of administrative tasks is the most vital of all the things above. When you work, so many things fall through the cracks of your household.

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The school is always emailing something, people are raising prices, homeowner’s associations are making changes, and hackers are trying to access your credit report.

There is truly a never-ending list of admin tasks to complete, and things NEVER go your way. We recently took my son to get his passport at the Post Office, but the lady wasn’t there, although we had an appointment.

Things like this always seem to happen. Having the freedom to adjust to this madness is one of the perks of escaping the workforce. We also get to focus on staying healthy in terms of medical and dental health.

But, what about the money? I recently helped a friend do his taxes. His family brings in over $250,000/year in income but is in debt.

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How much is enough? How many new cars are enough? How many kitchens and bathrooms can you renovate? What is the limit on cruises you can take per year?

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If you cannot control your spending, you will continue to work forever. If you can cap your spending, you’ll eventually have a surplus of cash to invest.

As for me, I make more now than when working. It may sound impossible, but I have optimized my lifestyle. We reduce taxes to the absolute minimum.

Our adjusted gross income is $50,000 before the $30,000 standard dedication. Yet, we brought in over $150,000 in income. We use a combination of real estate losses (depreciation), dividends (0% under $90,000/year income), business, and tax-free income from the VA to reduce our taxes.

If you don’t understand these terms, you should learn them. These terms are the ones that will set you free: real estate, taxes, passive income, business, royalties, dividends, and government subsidies.

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My friends will continue to work forever because they love to spend. They need the big truck with the big boat. The funny part is that I can purchase bigger boats and faster cars—I just choose not to.

Conclusion. Can you escape the workforce? It depends on what type of life you want to lead. If you want to keep up with the Joneses, you’ll stay in the workforce with the Joneses.

If you want to follow a different path, you must learn new words. You need to optimize your time, paperwork, taxes, and lifestyle—you must be intentional.

I now have a life-life balance. I can pursue my life on my terms, all while making more money than ever before. 

Every year my net worth and passive income increase because I invest in assets. I don’t need to exchange my time for money any longer. If you want to be free, you must free yourself. Nobody is coming to save you. Good Luck!

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Disclosure: I am not a financial advisor or money manager, and any knowledge is given as guidance and not direct actionable investment advice. I am an Amazon Affiliate. Please research any investment vehicles that are being considered. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it.  I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. All Right Reserved Military Family Investing